Question for those living in Nevada...

[mom2abcd]

How do you pronounce the name of your state?

 

Is it Ne-vaah-da or Ne-va-da?

 

I suppose people may pronounce it in a variety of ways. I know natives who pronounce Missouri "Missoura" and non-natives who call Illinois "Illinoise." "Helena" is mispronounced on song cds as He-lene-a.

 

What's the most common pronunciation of your state?

Edited April 14, 2009 by mom2abcd

[Amira]

It's Nevada with a short a. I've never heard a true Nevadan (or native westerner) say anything but that. The official state tourism website makes it clear also.

[Nestof3]

It's Nevada with a short a. I've never heard a true Nevadan (or native westerner) say anything but that. The official state tourism website makes it clear also.

 

So, you mean as in cat? Wow -- I always thought it was as in "say ahhh."

[catalinakel]

nuh-vah(rhymes with yeah, as in, "yeah, I know it's hot here")-duh

[catalinakel]

So, you mean as in cat? Wow -- I always thought it was as in "say ahhh."

 

yes, like in cat and rat and that is one hot state!

[mom2abcd]

Thanks! That's the way I learned it, but I've been hearing it pronounced with the "ahhh" sound so wanted to make sure.

[Amira]

It seems to be an east coast thing, or an eastern half of the US thing, to say it with the other sound, so you hear it pronounced "wrong" pretty often on national news.

 

Colorado has the same problem.

[Nestof3]

But, the tourism site does say it's from a Spanish word, so why is it not pronounced in a Spanish way?

 

This reminds me, we have a street "Monticello," but everyone around here pronounces it with a soft c instead of with a ch -- as in Jefferson's home.

Edited April 14, 2009 by nestof3

[Nestof3]

It seems to be an east coast thing, or an eastern half of the US thing, to say it with the other sound, so you hear it pronounced "wrong" pretty often on national news.

 

Colorado has the same problem.

 

ugh -- so it's not an "ahhh" sound either. I always thought the short a sounded hick-ish or something. :lol: All along, I was pronouncing it wrong. :lol:

[Amira]

There are many, many place names in the West that are Spanish but don't follow Spanish pronounciation. Just as most of the Native American place names are pronounced differently in English than they would be in their respective Native American languages.

 

And I know we sound like hicks to everyone else. :)

[Veritaserum]

Oregon is another that gets tweaked by Easterners (they say "Or-ee-gone" instead of more like "Or-i-gun" with a short i). I'm from CA and dh is from NY so I hear assorted regional differences in pronunciation. :tongue_smilie:

[Jean in Newcastle]

There is no "r" in Washington!

[KidsHappen]

Well, I no longer live in Nevada but I used to. One of my children was born there. I have never heard anyone pronounce it any way but with the ahh sound. Ne (short e like egg) vahh (like say ahhh) da (like duh). Maybe it has something to do with where you live in Nevada? We lived in Elko. That is the northern part of the state, slightly east of center. We did visit Las Vegas a few times and they pronounced it the same way there. I also lived in both Utah and Idaho and that is how they pronounced it there as well. As a matter of fact, I don't know that I have ever heard anyone, anywhere pronounce it with the short a (like cat) sound and I am really surprised to here that.

[OnTheBrink]

Just to throw another spin into it, there's a town in Missouri called Nevada. Nah VAY Duh.

 

Here in Illinois, we have Athens: AY-thins.

[HollyinNNV]

If you come to N. NV (Reno), folks prefer:

 

Ne (short u: dug) va (apple) da (short u: dug)

 

The accent is on the second syllable.

 

The trick is people hate it when you change the second syllable to a "o" as in "octopus" sound. That is a sure sound of being an outsider.

 

HTH,

Holly

[usetoschool]

Just to add a little fuel to the 'hick' fire-

 

a town south of Reno is Genoa - no, not like the Italian city but juh-NO-uh

a rural area west of Reno - Verdi - no, not like the composer or the spanish color but VER-di with a long i

a local street, Moana - pronounced mo-AN-uh

 

I think it is like a secret handshake - "Clem, he cain't pronounce it raight - he ain't from round these parts" ;)

 

JAN-et 4th generation from nuh - VAD - uh

 

(so is it col-or-AD-o or col-or-aahhh-do?)

[Veritaserum]

Ne (short e like egg) vahh (like say ahhh) da (like duh).

 

Huh. I've never heard anyone pronounce it that way unless they were from the East Coast. I grew up in CA and have lived in Utah for the past 10 years. Everyone says "Nu-va-duh" (short a). :001_huh:

[LizzyBee]

Oregon is another that gets tweaked by Easterners (they say "Or-ee-gone" instead of more like "Or-i-gun" with a short i). I'm from CA and dh is from NY so I hear assorted regional differences in pronunciation. :tongue_smilie:

 

In defense of easterners, I've only heard Oregon pronounced the 2nd way, not the 1st way. :001_smile:

[LizzyBee]

Colorado has the same problem.

 

So what is the correct pronunciation of Colorado?

[dirty ethel rackham]

Just to throw another spin into it, there's a town in Missouri called Nevada. Nah VAY Duh.

 

Here in Illinois, we have Athens: AY-thins.

 

Hey, my sister lives in Athens. I didn't know anyone else knew about that tiny town.

[KidsHappen]

Just to add a little fuel to the 'hick' fire-

 

a town south of Reno is Genoa - no, not like the Italian city but juh-NO-uh

a rural area west of Reno - Verdi - no, not like the composer or the spanish color but VER-di with a long i

a local street, Moana - pronounced mo-AN-uh

 

I think it is like a secret handshake - "Clem, he cain't pronounce it raight - he ain't from round these parts" ;)

 

JAN-et 4th generation from nuh - VAD - uh

 

(so is it col-or-AD-o or col-or-aahhh-do?)

 

Oh, this reminds me. We have a street here called Demonbreun. How you pronounce it tells us if you are a local or not. Anyone want to take a guess?

 

Don't even try to pronoun any city that is from a Native American language unless you know what you are doing.

 

I never did figure out exactly how I am supposed to pronounce Wisconsin but apparently I was not doing it right the entire time I lived there.

 

And finally, just because the exact same word is pronounced one way somewhere, does not mean that it will be pronounced the same way somewhere else.

[KidsHappen]

Ok, this has been driving me crazy. I don't know why, just one of those things that got stuck in my brain. Anyhow, I looked it up on dictionary.com and this is what it had to say:

 

/nəˈvædə, -ˈvɑdə/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [nuh-vad-uh, -vah-duh]

 

I pronounce it the second way and that is the way I remember people pronouncing it when I lived there. However, aftering thinking about it for a bit I realized that both of the towns I spent time in in Nevada probably did not have a lot of natives so it is possible that we were just a bunch of foreigners pronouncing it incorrectly.

[Desert Rat]

Short A - I've lived here for 25 years. If I hear the long A, I know you're from out of town!

[Desert Rat]

Oh, and I was born in Illinois-which is mispronounced often too. :o

[HollyinNNV]

From the RGJ: (RENO GAZETTE JOURNAL)

 

"Stephanopoulos took the only boos of the forum when he mispronounced Nevada at the start of his interview with Dodd.

 

He said "Ne-VAH-duh" with the elongated middle syllable instead of "Ne-VA-duh" as residents pronounce it. The state Democratic party had sent all the campaigns an information sheet that included the proper pronunciation of the state's name. None of them mispronounced it during the forum and Stephanopoulos quickly made up for his gaffe at his next opportunity."